How Lukas Podolski found happiness in his Polish homeland

Lukas Podolski was a prince his entire adult life. When he first caused a sensation in the Bundesliga in 1. FC Köln in 2003, the nickname was quickly found – because of the Cologne Carnival. “Prince Poldi” was how the media lovingly apostrophized the then 18-year-old; At some point he advertised for the “Prince Role”.

He was a thrilling young attacker, full of carefree manner in his style of play and expression, which resonated with people. An instinctive footballer who learned the sport on the street. And also the language, the slang. In Cologne he became a crowd favorite because people saw him as one of their own. A lot of things in modern football are projections, but with Podolski that wasn’t a wrong assessment.

A prince is inevitably an heir to the throne, but as we all know, it can take a while to get there – Prince Charles had to be 74 before he became king.

Podolski was denied a coronation in Germany. His performances as a young man had created enormous expectations that Podolski could not satisfy. He plays for Bayern, Inter Milan and Arsenal, heavyweights of world football, but the narrative was: he doesn’t make enough of his immense talent and is too kind to himself. The Germans call it Mosern, it is one of their favorite pastimes. At Bayern, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said they expected more. The goalkeeper coach Uli Stein called him lazy.

Podolski travels the world and then fulfills an old promise

Podolski never seems to have cared too much about the criticism; he simply moved on, eventually to Japan and Turkey, countries where respect for a world champion lasts practically forever. He was also courted there, but since he kept an old promise in the summer of 2021 and moved home to Gornik Zabrze, his status has changed.

Emil Bergström, a Swede who previously defended in Basel and at GC and has now landed in Zabrze, says: “His popularity is enormous. This is his kingdom.”

Krol Lukas, King of Silesia.

Goethe once wrote about Silesia, these 40,000 square kilometers, which today lie mainly on Polish territory, that it is a “land tenfold interesting, which creates a strangely beautiful, sensual and understandable whole”.

Mining thrived in Zabrze, but when the mines closed, the city paid a heavy price

It is the beginning of May 2023, and in Zabrze the glory of yesteryear is not necessarily visible at first glance. And maybe not the second one either. But anyone who comes here, to the mining town, immerses themselves in another world in which time has simply stopped at some point. Which is expressed in a certain independence. The city center is not interchangeable like in so many places in Western Europe, where there are the same international chain stores everywhere, Zara, New Yorker and Subway.

In Zabrze there are family-owned prefabricated buildings, art galleries and fashion stores for the almost 140,000 residents. A few hours before kick-off, players from opponent Warta Poznan meet on the terrace of the most elegant hotel in the city – an Ibis, the double room is available for 49 euros.

Zabrze was once the stronghold of Polish mining, but all six mines have now closed. Over the last two decades, the city has had to reinvent itself. “We paid a high price for the change; unemployment was 24 percent,” says mayor Malgorzata Manka-Szulik. Today it is 4 percent, there are three universities – and young people have new prospects.

The average wage is 1,300 euros per month, which is attractive for Poland. Manka-Szulik says that the wonderful Polish beer tastes even better underground, in the city’s show mine, and that people should come by. She would like to establish Zabrze more firmly as a tourist destination.

“It’s nice to be home again”

In early summer 2023, Podolski was Zabrze’s most exciting attraction, thanks to him football tourists and groundhoppers discovered the destination for themselves. After a confident 2-0 win over Warta, Podolski stood in the mixed zone of the Ernst Pohl Stadium and said: “My whole family used to work underground. It’s nice to be home again.”

At home. For Podolski, that is also Cologne. He has sometimes been resented for loving two cities, countries and clubs; The concept of polygamy has not yet become established in sports. But today everything is forgiven, he is a folk hero in Cologne and more popular than ever in Poland.

It was a small touching piece that Podolski performed in the autumn of his career. He showed that in the late autumn of a glorious career you don’t necessarily have to sell your remaining dignity for a few million and move to villainous Saudi Arabia, best wishes to Cristiano Ronaldo. Podolski also had significantly more lucrative offers from North America and the Middle East. But he wanted to go back to Silesia, to where he was once born. In the Sosnica district in Gliwice, where people stick with Gornik and not with local hero Piast Gliwice.

Gornik – the name is the Polish term for miner – was the record champion for a long time. In 1970 the club reached the final of the Cup Winners’ Cup against Manchester City. But with the collapse of the coal industry, Gornik’s decline also began, and the club temporarily sank into the second division. To this day he is in a kind of transformation phase. Where the opposing stand should actually be, there is only rubble and ashes; construction was delayed due to financial difficulties.

The last international match was in 1996, a 2-0 defeat against Germany, which is remembered for showing German hooligans giving the Hitler salute. In a stadium that was called the Adolf Hitler Arena until 1946. And what remains the same today is that right-wing extremism is widespread among Poland’s hooligans; As incomprehensible as that is, especially since it is 13 kilometers as the crow flies to the Auschwitz extermination camp.

Swiss Robin Kamber says Podolski is like a big brother to his teammates

Podolski never dwelled on unpleasant topics for too long. He’s the kind of person who can laugh anything off, two thumbs up, even if the joke is at his own expense. He is now 37, his hairline shimmers gray in this Peter Pan of German football that never seems to age.

The Swiss midfielder Robin Kamber, who is under contract with Gornik until the end of March 2023, said that he did not detect any airs and graces in Podolski and that he perceived him as something like a big brother for the entire team: “Always good for a saying, always intended to create a relaxed atmosphere. But he can also speak plainly in the dressing room if necessary,” said Kamber.

Podolski no longer has to do all of this, he has completed his wealth creation. He diversified his sources of income early on – and cleverly used his appeal. He owns kebab shops in Cologne. In autumn 2023 he organized a music festival at the Hockenheimring, to which 100,000 visitors were expected. He still has this celebrity status in Germany, where every emotion is expressed in sticky, breathless showmanship. In early summer 2023, Prosieben.de headlined: “Podolski inspires with a private insight: his daughter Ella is SO sweet.”

If he is banned, he travels with the ultras

To him it seems to be nothing more than background noise. He has managed to maintain a certain light-heartedness, the privilege of only doing what he feels like doing. When he was suspended for the second half of 2023, he simply joined the Ultras in the guest sector. They almost couldn’t believe their luck.

Podolski has not yet necessarily emerged as a great philosopher. When he was once asked after a 1-1 draw with Germany against Finland whether he was more happy about his goal or annoyed about the result, he said: “It actually outweighs both.” His wisdom has taken on a life of its own in carefully curated collections across the internet.

But now, at the end of his career, he says with a serious look: “No one can take away my two years at Gornik, I would do it again at any time. Football is not always just about titles, contracts and money. The people here don’t have much, I want to give them something back. And you should have fun in life every now and then, you know?”

He seems to be able to do this with ease. With ten assists, he was the Ekstraklasa’s best assist provider in the 2022/23 season, and sixth-placed Gornik added win after win in the spring of 2023. Podolski has always been more of an enforcer than a provider; he can tear through goal nets with his left foot. Maybe “God” gave him this foot, he once speculated. But as he has gotten older, he has remodeled his game again and recently acted more in a team-friendly manner.

Hanspeter Latour’s lesson: You can’t do it alone

It’s a lesson that Hanspeter Latour tried to teach him a long time ago. In the spring of 2006, at Geissbockheim, the training ground of 1. FC Köln, Latour ordered the 20-year-old Podolski to push a tree trunk that had fallen over during a storm off the road.

Podolski failed, and Latour knowingly announced that one person alone couldn’t achieve much. But all together. “Latour,” says Podolski with a smile in Zabrze, “it’s crazy how long it’s been and who I’ve met in football. He was a good coach. And it’s still true: you can’t do anything in football alone.”

Call to Latour, 75, now an active nature observer. Latour says he is currently preparing a presentation, but when it comes to Podolski he already has a few minutes. “Yes, Poldi, that was his name,” Latour explains, “was still very young back then. You could feel this expectation, the pressure, I had the feeling that the joy was missing a bit because so much was coming at him.

He made him captain and encouraged him not to think too much. Latour says: “He was an exceptional footballer, it was nice to coach such a player.” As a farewell, Podolski gave him a photo album with shared memories; the gesture touched the coach.

Latour retired from football long ago, many years ago. The question is how long Podolski will stay in the industry. His contract expires in the summer of 2025, nobody knows whether that is it, whether he will move on and plunge into a new, final adventure. On Thursday he said goodbye to his German fans at his farewell game in Cologne. He previously told a German online magazine that he was afraid of the end of his career, Day X.

It doesn’t sound like the king is ready to abdicate.

This text originally appeared in early summer 2023. You are reading an updated version on the occasion of Lukas Podolski’s farewell game.